Police report talks TMC violence

A REPORT prepared by West Bengal Police on political violence in the state in the aftermath of the April 9 incident when Finance Minister Amit Mitra was heckled by SFI supporters in Delhi stated that as many as 149 CPM party offices were ransacked and damaged by the Trinamool Congress supporters and followers.

A REPORT prepared by West Bengal Police on political violence in the state in the aftermath of the April 9 incident when Finance Minister Amit Mitra was heckled by SFI supporters in Delhi stated that as many as 149 CPM party offices were ransacked and damaged by the Trinamool Congress supporters and followers. The report was submitted last week to the state Home Department,which is headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The report completely falsifies the claims made by senior Trinamool Congress ministers who have been consistently saying that their protests were spontaneous and peaceful and had accused the rival CPM of fomenting trouble in the state.

We have received reports from all the district police offices. The report revealed that 149 CPM party offices were torched by Trinamool supporters in 19 districts and five commissionerate areas. Police have arrested 200 miscreants all across the state, said a senior Home Department official.

Of the 200 miscreants arrested,the report stated that 52 belonged to the CPM who were arrested in Siliguri for instigating violence. The report has also mentioned that CPM supporters ransacked at least five to six Trinamool party offices in Raniganj and Asansol area in Burdwan.

However,the number of CPM offices attacked as stated in the report is far much less than what has been claimed by the CPM and other Left Front constituents.

In its deputation submitted by the Left Front to Governor M K Narayanan on April 17,it stated that over 1,500 incidents of violence took place in which CPM offices and party workers were attacked in two days following the Delhi incident.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose had claimed that 106 Left Front party offices,including 87 of the CPM and 19 of the Forward Bloc,were torched in Cooch Behar district. However,the police report claimed that 22 Left Front offices were attacked in Cooch Behar district.

The government is trying to suppress the fact. But we have listed the party offices which were attacked,torched and ransacked. Some of our party offices were gutted. We have proof and the affected and damaged offices can be physically verified. At least six of former ministers were attacked in the violence. We have lodged more than 1,000 police complaints in this regard, said CPM leader and Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra.